John Dunn retired as the eighth president of Western Michigan University on July 31 at the age of 71. He was succeeded by Edward Montgomery, a labor economist who served in prominent positions in both the Clinton and Obama administrations and most recently was a dean at Georgetown University. Six days before Dunn's last day in the president's office, he sat down with Crain's reporter Tom Henderson — boxes on the floor in the midst of being packed, shelves on the wall empty — to discuss his 10-year tenure, which saw outreach to foreign students, the creation of a medical school, a wide range of efforts on behalf of technology transfer and research commercialization, and continued construction of the school's Business Technology and Research Park at the 265-acre Parkview Campus west of the main campus.

Q: We first met five or six years ago at an editorial board meeting you had with Crain's. One of the things we talked about, and you were very animated about it, was Western being excluded from the University Research Corridor that was formed by Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan in late 2006 to seek out large grants and work on major collaboration efforts. That was just before you took over as president at WMU. Ron Kitchens [senior partner and CEO of Southwest Michigan First, an economic development organization in Kalamazoo] told me folks here lobbied hard and long to be included but to no avail.

A: I thought it was a real bad mistake not to include Western. If you want to have a research triangle like North Carolina's, have a real one. Take it from Detroit to Kalamazoo to Houghton and Michigan Tech. I don't know why you (wouldn't) include Tech with everything they have going on. I never understood why they took the position they did. For some reason they felt it had to be just the three of them.

Q: The irony was at the time, Wayne State's office of the vice president of research and its tech transfer office were considered to be underperformers. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. eventually gave the school a large grant that required it to bring in a consultant from Chicago to tell to them what they were doing wrong and how to right it. And they have.

A: You had to include Wayne State. You had to include Detroit. I get that. But they should have included other top research universities, too. I'm a big believer in partnerships. The way the world is changing, it's all about partnerships. Take Aquinas College. It's a great school, but it doesn't have an engineering school. So 18 months ago, we worked out a deal where students go there for two years and get an associates degree and then the come here for their engineering degree. Kalamazoo College, which sits right there, we entered into an agreement with them so their students can take selected courses here. How can we figure out strategies that are good for students?

Q: Another interesting partnership is that between the school and Newell Rubbermaid, a New York Stock Exchange company based in Atlanta that in 2014 opened its 40,000-square-foot design center in your tech park. Quite a coup.

A: It's a collaboration between Newell, the engineering school, the business school, the fine arts community and Southwest Michigan First. It's an example of how to use the strengths and capabilities of all your resources. You don't want to keep things in silos, which is what we used to do.

Q: Another irony about the research corridor is that Western has made tech transfer and the commercialization a big focus. When I knew we were doing a special section on Kalamazoo, I went to the website of the Michigan Venture Capital Association, which has a nice link showing what's going on around the state. And there was a long list of efforts at WMU — the Homer Stryker School of Medicine Innovation Center, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Business Technology and Research Park, the Starting Gate, the Biz Connection and the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center. The campus is also home to the $70 million College of Engineering and Applied Sciences building, operates as a SmartZone and has attracted more than 50 private-sector businesses, eight of which have built buildings.

A: University presidents and provosts have to be cognizant of the way research can impact people. A lot has happened here. You never used to hear terms like "venture capital" on campus. When I came here, we didn't have a medical school. We started the medical school in 2011. At the time, there wasn't a medical examiner in Kalamazoo. If you lost a loved one in Kalamazoo, you had to go to Lansing for the autopsy at Sparrow Hospital. Now, the medical school is the medical examiner for eight counties here. We're expanding our research profile at the medical school, bringing in lab scientists. You'll see our profile changing dramatically.

Q: I thought it might be hard getting on your calendar on short notice during your last week in office, so I was sure to leave the message that while you might not remember my name, you might remember having a conversation about running a marathon on Belle Isle. I've run a lot of Detroit marathons, but all were from 1981 on, when the race ran through city streets. You ran your marathon in 1969, when it was five laps of Belle Isle.

A: I was teaching at Lake Forest High School in Illinois at the time. I think I finished 35th and got a little medal. At the end of my fourth lap I heard a guy coming up on me. He was really moving. I thought, 'He's finishing his fifth lap and I'm only on my fourth?' It turned out it was a Canadian named Jerome Drayton and he set the world record that day.

Q: If you are going to get lapped, might as well be by a guy setting a world record. Do you remember your time that day?

A: No, I don't. My best time was 2:38 at the Deseret News Marathon in Utah.

Q: Do you still run?

A: No. I wish I could. I've had some leg troubles and my doctor has me using a cane. I was running until 2009. I was at my son's house in Salt Lake City and after a run and a shower, my arms were a little heavy. My wife said I had to go to the emergency room and I said, 'No, I'm fine.' But she insisted. I was having a heart attack and they took me in and put in two stents. It was Christmas Day and my family is still mad at me for ruining dinner. I told the surgeon I was sorry I ruined his Christmas and he said, "It's all right. I'm Jewish." After that, I worked out an hour a day on an elliptical trainer until I started having leg trouble.

Q: So what's next for you?

A: I have emeritus status at the medical school and will have an office there. The trustees have asked me to do some things. There are some gifts and donations we need to close on. And I want to keep focusing on our international students. We had 967 international students when I came here. We're north of 1,800, now, from 100 different countries. I want to write about the importance of having international students. There's this perception they're taking a seat at the table from someone else or are somehow trouble. They aren't. They add to our culture. They make our community better.

Q: Ron Kitchens told me the thing he most respects you for is the Seita Scholars Program, which helps kids aging out of the foster program at age 18 get into school.

A: John Seita was a foster kid who ended up getting three degrees here. We started the program in 2008 and named it for him. About 500 kids a year age out of foster care in Michigan. Seventy percent of them want to continue their education, but only 5 percent do. The state gives them a little bit of money and tells them to find a place to live and get a job. And it's going to be a low-wage job. We decided if these kids are admissible to the university, we'll make sure we work with them to get them the resources they need. We have foundations and people willing to give, and we make sure their education is paid for and they have a place to live and something to eat. We now have more than 100 of these kids who have walked across the stage diplomas in hand, and the state has asked us to take the lead in encouraging other state universities and colleges to set up similar programs.